‘Brazen’ burglars steal from Belfast bedrooms while residents sleep

BELFAST, Maine — A series of burglaries and thefts in the downtown residential area on Wednesday and Thursday nights has police worried, given the nature of the acts.

Belfast Police Chief Mike McFadden said Sunday that perpetrators are entering the homes while residents are asleep inside. In at least one case, items were taken from the bedroom in which residents slept.

“The people that are breaking into these places are really brazen,” McFadden said, “and are sneaking around fairly stealthily,” without waking the residents, in most cases.

The Wednesday night burglaries were reported in the Ocean Street area near the Penobscot Bay shore.

Four more such burglaries were reported Friday. They are believed to have occurred Thursday night in the area McFadden described as closer to “the heart of the downtown.” He would not name the streets where the victims lived. In three of the four, the residents were home when the burglaries took place.

The burglars are gaining entrance through locked and unlocked doors and windows, he said.

McFadden urged residents to lock their doors and windows, leave outside lights on and keep a telephone in the bedroom to summon police if needed. He also urged residents not to confront or chase the perpetrators as one resident did. It is not known whether they are armed, he said.

“These things are still going on,” the chief said, and urged residents to be vigilant.

Neighbors to one of the victims heard their dogs bark on the night of one of the burglaries, McFadden said, which they said was unusual. The chief said if residents experience similar warnings or hears unusual sounds, they should call 911.

Anyone with information about the break-ins can call police at 338-2420.